Our Legacy Is Pro­found

The legacy of Vil­lage At Gries­bach is one of ser­vice, hon­our and pride. For over 60 years these lands served as a mil­i­tary base, home to many of Canada’s great­est heroes, reg­i­ments and mem­o­ries. It was named af­ter Wil­liam An­trobus Gries­bach, one of Ed­mon­ton’s most dis­tin­guished ci­ti­zens. Not only was he a Ma­jor Gen­eral, see­ing ser­vice in WW I and WW II, but he was a re­spected lawyer, Ed­mon­ton’s youngest mayor, an Alberta MLA and a Cana­dian MP and Se­na­tor. He was mar­ried to his dear wife Janet for over 35 years and passed away as a Dis­tin­guished Or­der Of Canada re­cip­i­ent in 1988.

Many of the com­mu­nity’s most beau­ti­ful ameni­ties were cre­ated in trib­ute to the Vil­lage’s proud mil­i­tary past and each of them tells a story. Pa­tri­cia Lake and the cul­tural am­phithe­atre pay homage to the Princess Pa­tri­cia’s Light In­fantry and Canada’s sac­ri­fice in Afghanistan. There is Bed­ford Basin and its trib­ute to Canada’s Navy and the brave men and women that trained in Ed­mon­ton be­fore leav­ing for Hal­i­fax to serve their coun­try at sea. And, the in­cred­i­ble Roundel Lake in hon­our of Canada’s Air Force. The Ad As­tra mon­u­ment and park are a re­minder of Ed­mon­ton and Canada’s pro­gres­sive aero­nau­ti­cal his­tory and the peo­ple who per­son­i­fied its glory both in war and in peace. Ad­ja­cent to Roundel Park is the Flan­ders Park trib­ute to Cana­dian poet and au­thor, John Mc­crae, honour­ing the 100th An­niver­sary of his im­mor­tal prose – In Flan­ders Fields.